Holistic Creative Activities Spark Imaginations

With a little imagination, lots of ordinary things around the house can spark into holistic creative activities for your children, in areas such as arts and crafts, music, dancing, cooking, gardening, and discovering science.

You do not need to spend lots of money on toy or games. Help your children practice more creative play and you can save money too. Recycled materials are best, because they encourage creative open-ended play.

Creative activities are fun learning experiences for your children.  Teach them about recycling, by using disposable materials to create something new and beautiful.

Play is natural, spontaneous and universal for children. Children do not have to be taught to play. They learn by doing, and play generally consists of simple materials drawn from natural sources that can be transformed imaginatively to fit a wide variety of purposes.

Spending time out in nature with plenty of time for movement is essential to happy, healthy children. Whether you are planning on biking, hiking or just simply playing outdoors. These activities are more than just fun for your children.  They also help with their physical development and learning.

Holistic Creative Outdoor Activities 

Outdoor nature games are fun for your children that call for action, adventure, exploration etc.  Explore nature and its environment,  helps children exercise their imagination.

* Spend time at nature-friendly destinations, parks and beaches. Go on a nature walk, pick up objects from nature such as leaves, flowers, nuts etc.  Encourage your children to observe and ask questions. When they return set out the art tools and let them create a collage of their nature walk.

* A picnic at the park can be fun for the whole family. Children can make paper airplanes and kites to fly.  And if they like to draw, bring along simple art supplies for them to be creative.  

 * Spend time at the beach or the seaside. Children are sure to come home with collections of seashells, drift woods etc.  Encourage them to create their own 'masterpiece.'  They'll  love and treasure it forever.

* Consider building a backyard sandbox. Sand has always been one of childhood’s favorite building materials.  A backyard with clay-based soil is a nice place to develop fine motor skills as your children mold the clay into objects.   

* Messy play with paints, water or in the sandpit is a good outlet for emotions. Encourage your children to be creative, have them dig out a road, use a small tube to create a tunnel, and bring in mini cars to play.

* Build  a vegetable plot, show them how to plant seeds, grow organic vegetables. And soon you'll have healthy food on the table.  Have a pet corner - rabbits, cats, birds, fish etc. Children learn to care for their pets.

* Visit the public library, show them how to search for books they love. It’s an excellent way to encourage them to read and get interested in books.   

* Cycling, swimming, jogging, fishing, horse riding are healthy activities, you and your children can enjoy together. Playground equipment - teaches coordination, balance and physical limits.

* Games like nature scavenger hunt, team building and other creative activities are very good to teach children cooperation, concentration and learning social skills.

Holistic Creative Indoor Activities

Children are the best improvisers for creative activities. They'll find ways and means of having fun, playing with simple materials. Give them simple materials such as logs, sticks, papers, stones, cloths, pegs,  boxes and ropes, and your children will create their world.  

* Homemade games and toys are great ways to keep your children entertained. Play dough is easy to make and your children will enjoy molding fun figures and use cookie cutters to make shapes.

* Scrap booking is great for children to have memories from their childhood Let your children participate in their own creations, use pictures or photos of their birthday parties, family trips to make scrap books that they will remember.

* Children enjoy playing with games such as picture cards, which are easy to make, riddles, puzzles, play snake and ladder. Books and rhymes teach them new words and they love to sing and dance.

* Young children also like to play with the boxes. The boxes are full of possibilities. They like to sit in boxes, drag themselves around. Imagine the boxes are their doll-houses, cars,  trains or airplanes etc.   

* Role play activities like dressing-up where your children's imagination can take them anywhere in the world.  Creative drama, story telling, help children with their inter - personal relationship.

* Fabrics use for imaginative play, wrap around their shoulders, become princes and princesses creating characters for dramatic play.  A piece of lace cloth can serve as dresses for their dolls.

* Parents who can sew, can make simple rag dolls for your children to play. Play with dolls allow your children to practice nurturing and encourage social skills.  Dolls can also be comforting and therapeutic.  

* Sometimes, children use dolls to work through things that may be going on in their family.  They may do and say things with dolls they wouldn’t dare do or say with their families.

* Activities range from mural painting, collage works, finger painting, clay modeling to making their own nature-themed board game,  encourage creativity while having fun.

* Cooking is a skill that helps children read, do math and organize their work logically. Its a  great way to learn life-skills. Children also learn about nutrition and healthy eating.

* Get your children excited about baking. Show them how to spread icing smoothly on the cup cakes. Get creative and pipe on few decorations on the cakes. Make these lessons fun with creative recipes that children can make with little help from you.

Guide to Holistic Childhood Education- Holistic Living Wellness for Your Families